Biopulp for non-woody fiber plants and biopulping method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a biopulping method, and more particularly to a biopulping method for non-woody fiber plants. A biopulping method for a non-woody fiber plant is provided. It includes steps of providing a culture solution, adding a non-woody fiber plant to the culture solution, adding a microorganism suspension to the culture solution, fermentatively culturing the culture solution for preparing a pulp solution, boiling the pulp solution, pulping the pulp solution, and screening the pulp solution for isolating the paper pulp from the pulp solution.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention provides a biopulp and a biopulping methodthereof, and more particularly to a biopulp for non-woody fiber plantsand a biopulping method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The paper-making industry is an universally traditional industry.The development of paper-making industry is the index of the economy andliving standard for a country. The source of paper pulp mostly comesfrom cutting down the forest. (It needs four metric tons of woods toproduce one metric ton of paper pulp. It equals to cut down twenty-threetrees.) Because of that, the forest area on the earth is rapidlydecreased. The ecological balance problem becomes more and more serious.Furthermore, it needs a great quantity of water and chemicals to washpulp. However, the waste liquid is discharged from factory in thetraditional chemical paper-making process. It also results inenvironmental pollution. The rivers and oceans are polluted. Nowadays,people in the whole world pay much attention to environmentalprotection. The corporations in paper-making industry are obliged tospend much money to improve the environmental quality. The productioncosts are thus raised. Those problems really strike against thepaper-making industry.

[0003] The annual yield of rice straws is about 2300 thousand metrictons in Taiwan. The organic components of rice straws are almost morethan 95%. The organic components include 41.3% carbon, 0.81% hydrogen,20.6% semicellulose, 24.7% cellulose and 7.7% lignin. Conventionally,the handling methods for rice straws include manufacturing them intostraw ropes, straw bags, straw mats and cardboards, serving them ascovering material for a plot of land, utilizing them as fuel, and mixingthem with other material to produce a compost. Also, the rice strawcould be directly buried in soil or burned for recyclably using thenutrition. Nowadays, the rice straws are rarely used to be the fuel,feed, straw bags or straw mats because of the expensive costs and theadvanced science and technology. Most of the rice straws are locallyburned or directly buried in soil, which often result in environmentalpollution. On the other hand, since the rice straws are in abundantfiber, it will be very helpful to mitigate the environmental pressure oflogging the trees for papermaking if the non-woody fiber plants could bewell developed and used. In the past, the fiber production methods byusing non-woody fiber plants as original material are generally chemicalor semi-chemical methods. However, there exist three difficult problemsin the paper-making industry resulting from the chemical productionmethod for pulp. They are described as follows. (1) Large amount ofsilicates and black liquid with high viscosity produced in the processoften result in the serious problems of recycle systems. (2) Thedeposition of calcium carbonate will be affected by the silicates andthus will lead to the dirt appearance attached on the vapor apparatus.In addition, the piping of evaporator will get undesirable black viscousliquid attached on. Therefore, it needs to stop working for cleaning theapparatus. (3) The unstable status of the steamer and boiling machineswill waste the fuel and thus will raise the production costs.

[0004] The biotechnology is the key for reorganizing the traditionalindustry structure. It is a very important direction moved towards theuse of the biotechnology for papermaking in the industry. Recently, theadvantages of using biotechnology for papermaking are the reduction ofproduction cost, the improvement of pulp quality and the safetymaintenance of the working environment, etc. There are many methods andproducts produced, for example, the removal of the gum or printing inkby using enzymes, paper bleaching by using xylanase or lignin oxidizingenzyme, and the improvement of pulp viscosity by using enzymes(non-woody fiber pulp especially). However, these methods also have thedrawbacks of environmental pollution caused by waste liquid and energyconsumption and so on. Therefore, it is imperative to seek theassistance of biotechnology for solving and overcoming the drawbacks ofpapermaking by using chemical methods.

[0005] Researchers in many countries of Europe and American attempt touse white-rot fungi, such as Phanerochaete chrysosporiumand andCereporiopsis subvermispora, grown on wood slices for removing thelignin of woods and saving the cost and energy of paper making. Althoughthere are some results came from those researches, it takes too muchtime for the industry to grow the white-rot fungi on woods outdoors.

[0006] The main purpose of the present invention is to apply thedecomposition ability of the microorganisms for decomposing the organicmatters in the papermaking processes of waste straws so as to establisha model of biopulping processes for non-woody fiber plants. Thenon-woody fiber plants will become an important source of the rawmaterials of paper pulp. This approach can decrease the consumption offorest reservations and the production of chemical wastes. And then theproblems of papermaking are solved.

[0007] From the above description, it is known that how to develop a newpulping method with the advantages of low production costs, low or nonpollution has become a major problem waited to be solved. In order toovercome the drawbacks in the prior art, a biopulp for non-woody fiberplants and a biopulping method thereof is provided. The particulardesign in the present invention not only solves the problem describedabove, but also uses the waste rice straws and a biopulping method toproduce paper pulp for paper-making. It does not need to use thechemical or semi-chemical method, and therefore no pollution problemsexist. Thus, the invention has the utility for the industry.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention provides a biopulp for non-woodyfiber plants and a biopulping method thereof which overcomes thedisadvantages described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to apply thedecomposition ability of the microorganisms for decomposing the organicmatters in the papermaking processes of waste straws so as to establisha model of biopulping processes of a non-woody fiber plant. Thenon-woody fiber plants will become an important source of the rawmaterials of paper pulp. This approach can decrease the consumption offorest reserves and no chemical pollution is produced. And then theproblems of papermaking are solved.

[0010] It is another object of the present invention to provide abiopulping method for recycling the waste straws and decreasing the costof papermaking.

[0011] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, aproduction method for a paper pulp includes steps of providing a culturesolution, adding a fiber plant into the culture solution, adding asuspension of a microorganism into the culture solution, fermentativelyculturing the culture solution for preparing a pulp solution, boilingthe pulp solution, pulping the pulp solution, and screening the pulpsolution for isolating a paper pulp from the pulp solution.

[0012] Preferably, the fiber plant is a non-woody fiber plant.

[0013] Preferably, the fiber plant is pretreated by one selected from agroup consisting of a relatively high pressure treatment under arelatively high temperature, a steaming treatment under a relativelyhigh temperature, a boiling treatment under a relatively hightemperature, a fumigated treatment and a soaking treatment under a roomtemperature.

[0014] Preferably, the fiber plant is added into the culture solution bya ratio of 4˜15%.

[0015] Preferably, the microorganism is isolated from one of a non-woodyfiber plant and a livestock excrement compost.

[0016] Preferably, the microorganism is inoculated at a concentrationranged from 0 to 10⁸ cfu/ml.

[0017] Preferably, the microorganism is a Gram positive bacterium.

[0018] Preferably, the microorganism is one selected from a groupconsisting of a Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5), a Bacillus subtilis(PMBP-m6) and a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (PMBP-m7).

[0019] Preferably, the fermentatively culturing process is proceeded ata temperature ranged from 20 to 50° C.

[0020] Preferably, the fermentatively culturing process is one of astatic culture and a shaking culture.

[0021] Preferably, the fermentatively culturing process is proceededover 0˜10 days.

[0022] Preferably, the step (e) further includes a step of adding 0˜4%(w/v) CaO into the pulp solution and boiling the pulp solution for 25˜40minutes under 120˜150° C.

[0023] Preferably, the pulp solution is screened by 18˜300 meshes.

[0024] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, abiopulping method for a non-woody fiber plant includes steps ofproviding a culture solution, adding a non-woody fiber plant into theculture solution, adding a suspension of a microorganism into theculture solution, fermentatively culturing the culture solution forpreparing a pulp solution, boiling the pulp solution, pulping the pulpsolution, and screening the pulp solution for isolating a paper pulpfrom the pulp solution.

[0025] Preferably, the fiber plant is pretreated by one selected from agroup consisting of a relatively high pressure treatment under arelatively high temperature, a steaming treatment under a relativelyhigh temperature, a boiling treatment under a relatively hightemperature, a fumigated treatment and a soaking treatment under a roomtemperature.

[0026] Preferably, the inoculation concentration of a microorganism isat a range from 0 to 10⁸ cfu/ml.

[0027] Preferably, the microorganism is one selected from a groupconsisting of a Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5), a Bacillus subtilis(PMBP-m6) and a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (PMBP-m7).

[0028] Preferably, the step (e) further includes a step of adding 0˜4%(w/v) CaO into the pulp solution and boiling the pulp solution for 25˜40minutes under 120˜150° C.

[0029] Preferably, the pulp solution is screened by 18˜300 meshes.

[0030] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, abiopulp of a non-woody fiber plant, includes the components of anon-woody fiber plant and a suspension of a microorganism. The non-woodyfiber plant and the suspension of the microorganism suspension are mixedand fermentatively cultured for preparing the biopulp.

[0031] Preferably, the microorganism is a Gram positive bacterium.

[0032] Preferably, the microorganism is one selected from a groupconsisting of a Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5), a Bacillus subtilis(PMBP-m6) and a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (PMBP-m7).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033]FIG. 1 shows the effects of different treatments on thedecomposition percentages of rice straw;

[0034]FIG. 2 shows the ability of various strains to decompose the ricestraw of Japonica rice;

[0035]FIG. 3 shows the effects of different inoculation concentrationsof PMBIII strain group on the recovery percentages of the rice strawpulp fibers;

[0036]FIG. 4 shows the effects of different fermentation culturingperiods on the recovery percentages of various straw pulp fibers;

[0037]FIG. 5 shows the effects of microorganism fermentation treatmentand chemical treatment on the recovery percentages of various straw pulpfibers; and

[0038]FIG. 6 shows the flow chart of biopulping method for waste ricestraw according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] The foregoing and other features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood through the followingdescriptions with reference to the drawings, wherein:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0040] (A) The Effects of Various Rice Straw Treatments on theDecomposition of Rice Straws:

[0041] The waste rice straws of Japonica rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp.japonica) and Indica rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp. indica) are provided.The rice straws are sun-dried, cut into small segments at the length of2-3 cm and pretreated in different ways. For example, the rice strawsare pretreated by an autoclave treatment (121° C., 15 lb/in² for 15minutes), a steaming treatment under relatively high temperature (100°C. for 30 minutes), a boiling treatment under a relatively hightemperature (100° C. for 30 minutes), a fumigated treatment (Propyleneoxide treatment for one day), or a soaking treatment under a roomtemperature (25˜30° C. for 30 minutes). The various treatments of ricestraws can further affect the pulp recovery efficiency. The detail stepsare described as follow. The rice straws are treated by an autoclavetreatment (121° C., 15 lb/in² for 15 minutes), a soaking treatment undera room temperature (25˜30° C. for 30 minutes), a fumigated treatment(Propylene oxide treatment for one day), a steaming treatment underrelatively high temperature (100° C. for 30 minutes) respectively. Thepretreated rice straws are added into the flasks containing 100 mlsterile water at the amount of 5% (w/v) and then respectively incubatedat 50° C., 200 rpm shaking culture and static culture for a week. Eachtreatment has duplicate samples. The changes of the rice straws areobserved. The decomposition percentage of rice straws is investigatedand recorded.

[0042] Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows the effects of differenttreatments on the decomposition percentages of rice straw, whichincludes an autoclave treatment (121° C., 15 lb/in² for 15 minutes), asoaking treatment under a room temperature (25˜30° C. for 30 minutes), afumigated treatment (Propylene oxide treatment for one day), a steamingtreatment under relatively high temperature (100° C. for 30 minutes).The decomposition percentage of rice straws is calculated by thefollowing formula.$\text{Decomposition \%} = {\frac{\text{(Total dry weight of fermentative rice straws} - \quad \text{Dry weight of intact rice straws)}}{\text{(Total dry weight of fermentative rice straws)}} \times 100}$

[0043] The results reveal that the shaking culture is helpful toincrease the decomposition of rice straws. After shaking culture, thedecomposition percentage of rice straws of Indica rice is obviouslyhigher than that of Japonica rice. The decomposition percentage of thefumigated (Propylene oxide) treatment is quite low in both shakingculture and static culture. It indicates that the microorganisms on thesurface of the rice straws are disinfected by the Propylene oxide.Therefore, very few microorganisms are left in the sample treated withpropylene oxide. Comparing the effect of soaking treatment under a roomtemperature with the effect of fumigated treatment, it is proved thatthe microorganisms are helpful to the decomposition of rice straws. Withregard to the steaming treatment under relatively high temperature, theboiling treatment under a relatively high temperature and the soakingtreatment under a room temperature, they are all helpful to thedecomposition of rice straws. By shaking culture, the aerobicfermentation speeds up the decomposition of the rice straws by themicroorganisms.

[0044] (B) The Selection of Bacterial Strains having DecompositionAbility:

[0045] The microorganism strains are obtained by the following methodaccording to a preferred embodiment. First, 10 g of the rice straws and10 g of livestock excrements are prepared and added into 90 ml ofsterile water containing agar (0.1%, w/v). The materials are well mixedand a serious dilution is made. Then, 0.1 ml of 10³ × and 10⁴× dilutedsolution are uniformly spread on Nutrient Agar plate, pH 8 (NA,purchased Nutrient Agar from Difco company) and Potato Dextrose Agarplate, pH 8 (PDA, purchased Potato Dextrose Agar from Difco company)respectively. Next, the plates are placed in the incubators under 30° C.and 50° C. for 24 hours and 48 hours respectively. Single colonies grownon plates are picked and isolated for obtaining the microorganismstrains. The number of microorganisms isolated from the rice straws andthe livestock excrements having the decomposition ability is more than200 strains. Finally, the microorganisms are identified by the Gramstain. It is found that most of the microorganisms are Gram-positivebacteria.

[0046] The isolated microorganisms are further selected by the followingsteps for selecting the microorganism strains having the decompositionability for rice straws. (1) 19 strains of the isolated strains, namedPMBP-m1, PMBP-m2, PMBP-m3, PMBP-m4, PMBP-m5, PMBP-m6, PMBP-m7, PMBP-O1,PMBP-O2, PMBP-O3, PMBP-O4, PMBP-e1, PMBP-e2, PMBP-e3, PMBP-e4, PMBP-H1,PMBP-H2, PMBP-H3 and PMBP-H4 (as shown in Table 1), are divided into 9strains groups, including PMBP-I, PMBP-II, PMBP-III, PMBP-IV, PMBP-V,PMBP-VI, PMBP-O, PMBP-E and PMBP-H. Please refer to Table 1, which showsthe bacterial strains of different strain groups and the characteristicsthereof. (2) The strains groups are cultured with NA plates respectivelyand then a suspension of microorganism is prepared at the concentrationof 10⁸ cfu/ml. (3) 100 ml of solution containing rice straws of Japonicarice (5%, w/v) is prepared. (4) 1 ml of the microorganism suspension isadded into the sterile solution prepared in step (3) and then culturedunder 50° C. and 200 rpm shaking for a week. Each strain is set up induplicate. (5) The decomposition percentage of rice straws iscalculated. TABLE 1 Characteristics Temp. Gram stain Isolate 50° C. pH8(+/−) PMBP-m1 ++ + + PMBP-m2 ++ + + PMBP-m3 ++ + + PMBP-m4 ++ + +PMBP-m5 ++ + + PMBP-m6 ++ + + PMBP-m7 ++ + + PMBP-O1 ++ + + PMBP-O2++ + + PMBP-O3 ++ + + PMBP-O4 ++ + + PMBP-e1 ++ + + PMBP-e2 ++ + +PMBP-e3 ++ + + PMBP-e4 ++ + + PMBP-H1 ++ + + PMBP-H2 ++ + + PMBP-H3++ + + PMBP-H4 ++ + +

[0047] Please refer to FIG. 2, which shows the ability of variousstrains to decompose the rice straw of Japonica Rice. The Japonica ricestraws treated with shaking culturing for a week are classified, driedand weighted. The decomposition percentage of rice straws treated withdifferent microorganisms is calculated by the following formula.$\text{Decomposition \%} = {\frac{\text{(Total dry weight of fermentative rice straws} - \quad \text{Dry weight of intact rice straws)}}{\text{(Total dry weight of fermentative rice straws)}} \times 100}$

[0048] As shown in FIG. 2, the PMBIII strain group has the bestdecomposition ability than the others. The decomposition percentage ofrice straws is about 10.38%. The PMBIII consists of Bacilluslicheniformis (PMBP-m5), B. subtilis (PMBP-m6) and B. amyloloquefaciens(PMBP-m7).

[0049] (C) The Production of Biopulp by Utilizing Bacteria withDifferent Inoculation Concentrations:

[0050] The waste rice straws are the material for producing the biopulp.Different inoculation concentrations of bacteria are added to decomposethe rice straws and those of decomposition effects on rice straws arecompared. The steps are as follows.

[0051] (1) Preparation of culture solution: A LBY culture solutioncontaining 0.25% lactose, 0.2% beef extract and 0.05% Yeast extract isprepared.

[0052] (2) Preparation of waste rice straws for testing: The waste ricestraws are collected. The cultivated variety of rice is Taichung ShengNo. 10 (Indica rice). The rice straws are sun-dried and cut into smallsegments at the length of 2-3 cm.

[0053] (3) Fermentatively shaking culture: The PMBIII strain groupconsisting of Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5), B. subtilis (PMBP-m6)and B. amyloloquefaciens (PMBP-m7) is picked and the suspension ofPMBIII strain group is prepared. 1000 ml of concave-bottom flaskscontaining 500 ml LBY culture solutions is prepared. The bacteriasuspensions of the PMBIII strain group are added into the culturesolution at the concentrations of 1.5×10⁴ cfu/ml (LBY-4 treatment),1.5×10⁶ cfu/ml (LBY-6 treatment) and 1.5×10⁸ cfu/ml (LBY-8 treatment)respectively. The culture solution without adding any bacteriasuspension is the control (LBY-1 treatment). The rice straw segments areadded into the culture solutions at the amount of 0.5% (w/v). And thenthe culture solutions are fermented in shaking culture under 50° C., 200rpm for a week. Each concentration of bacteria is set up in fourrepetitions to prepare a pulp solution.

[0054] (4) Boiling of the pulp solution: 1% (w/v) CaO is added into thepulp solution, which is then heated up to 140° C. for 30 minutes.

[0055] (5) Generation of the pulp solution: The pulp solution isgenerated by further pulping for 15 minutes.

[0056] (6) Filtration of the pulp solution: The pulp solutions aresieved by sieves with 18, 200 and 270 meshes respectively for isolatingthe incompletely decomposed rice straw pulp from the pulp solutions. Therecovery percentages of the rice straw pulp fibers sieved through sieveswith different meshes are calculated. The recovered rice straw pulpfibers sieved through 200 meshes are made into the handmade papers. Thephysical properties of the handmade papers are tested.

[0057] The results are shown in FIG. 3 and Table 2. FIG. 3 shows theeffects of different inoculation concentrations of PMBIII strain groupon the recovery percentages of the rice straw pulp fibers. The recoverypercentages of rice straw pulp fibers are slightly decreasing withincreasing inoculation concentrations of PMBIII strain group. Highinoculation concentration of PBMIII strain group has no significanteffect on the decomposition of rice straws. Please refer to Table 2,which shows the comparisons of physical properties of handmade papersmade from the pulp treated with different inoculation concentrations ofbacteria. The permeability to gases and the general strength of handmadepapers of the LBY-6 treatment (The inoculation concentration is 1.5×10⁶cfu/ml) is better than the others. The characteristic differences amongthe papers treated with other inoculation concentration of bacteria arenot significant. However, the general strengths of the papers treatedwith the inoculation of bacteria are all higher than that of the control(LBY-1) which is treated without the inoculation of bacteria. TABLE 2Treatment LBY-1 LBY-4 LBY-6 LBY-8 Test item C.S.F.:143 ml C.S.F.:162 mlC.S.F.:137 ml C.S.F.:212 ml Basic weight 72.4 71.0 71.7 71.4 (g/m²)Thickness 0.134 0.126 0.124 0.125 (mm) Bulk 1.85 1.77 1.73 1.75 (ml/g)Breaking length 5.74 5.69 6.24 5.99 (Km) Tear Index 3.74 4.14 3.50 3.90(mN · m²/g) Burst Index 2.56 2.90 3.20 3.20 (Kpa · m²/g) Cohesion Force2.11 2.34 2.31 2.15 (kg-cm) Permeability to 550.8 556.5 930.2 524.0Gases (sec/100 ml) Surface Strength 12 13 13 13 (A) Stiffness 1.52 1.361.36 1.42 (g-cm) Opacity 97.3 95.6 97.0 96.5 (%) Whiteness 22.3 22.221.7 23.1 (%) Ash Content (%) 11.6 11.6 11.3 11.3 *General Strength16.26 17.41 17.56 17.39

[0058] (D) The Effects of Different Fermentation Culturing Periods onthe Production of Rice Straw Pulp Fiber:

[0059] The length of fermentation culturing time can be variousaccording to a preferred embodiment. First, a LBY liquid medium and therice straw segments of Indica rice are prepared (The rice straws aresun-dried and cut into small segments at the length of 2-3 cm.). The LBYliquid medium is aliquoted into sterile 1000 ml concaved-bottom flask,500 ml per flask. The PMBPIII strain group is added into the LBY liquidmedia at the concentration of 1.5×10⁶ cfu/ml. Then, the rice strawsegments are added into the LBY liquid media containing PMBIII straingroup at the concentration of 5% (w/v). And then the mixed solution iscultured in shaking culture at 200 rpm under 50° C. for 0, 1, 4, 7 and10 days respectively. Each treatment is set up in four repetitions.Next, CaO is added into the fermentative culture solution at theconcentration of 1% (w/v) and then the fermentative culture solution isboiled up to 140° C. for 30 minutes for preparing the pulp solution. Thepulp solution is further pulped for 15 minutes. The pulp solutions aresieved by sieves with 18, 200 and 270 meshes respectively for isolatingthe incompletely decomposed rice straw pulp fibers from the pulpsolutions. The recovery percentages of the rice straw pulp fibers sievedthrough sieves with different meshes are calculated. The recovered ricestraw pulp fibers sieved through 200 meshes are made into the handmadepapers. The physical properties of the handmade papers are tested.

[0060] Please refer to FIG. 4 and Table 3. FIG. 4 shows the effects ofdifferent fermentation culturing periods on the recovery percentages ofvarious straw pulp fibers. The recovery percentage is decreased as thefermentation culturing period is increased. The pulp fibers recoveredfrom the fibers sieved through 200 meshes, which are fermented fordifferent fermentative periods, are compared. The recovery percentage of1-day fermentative culture is higher than that of the other periods.Table 3 shows the effects of different fermentation culturing periods onthe physical properties of handmade papers made from rice straw pulpfibers. The 4-day fermentative culture has the best gases permeability.And 10-day fermentative culture has the lowest gases permeability. Also,the 4-day fermentative culture has the best general strength. TABLE 3Treatment LBY-d0 LBY-d1 LBY-d4 LBY-d7 LBY-d10 Item C.S.F.: 209 mlC.S.F.: 227 ml C.S.F.: 179 ml C.S.F.: 138 ml C.S.F.: 198 ml Basic weight72.5 71.7 70.6 72.7 73.8 (g/m²) Thickness 0.135 0.126 0.120 0.126 0.143(mm) Bulk 1.86 1.76 1.70 1.73 1.94 (ml/g) Breaking length 3.73 4.61 5.174.41 3.38 (Km) Tear index 2.49 4.05 4.00 3.56 3.89 (mN · m²/g) BurstIndex 1.61 2.45 2.57 2.01 1.82 (Kpa · m²/g) Cohesion Force 1.76 1.752.04 1.69 1.69 (kg-cm) Permeability to 245.2 174.5 368.8 200.9 57.0Gases (sec/100 ml) Surface Strength 7 9 8 10 7 (A) Stiffness 1.27 1.281.23 1.57 1.62 (g-cm) Opacity 98.7 98.4 98.2 99.1 99.3 (%) Whiteness18.1 22.0 22.0 24.1 22.3 (%) Ash Content 17.5 15.2 14.4 18.2 19.4 (%)*General Strength 11.35 14.61 15.82 13.36 12.47

[0061] (E) The Comparison Between the Biopulping Method and the ChemicalPulping Method:

[0062] The followings are to compare the differences between biopulpingmethod and chemical pulping method. First, a LBY liquid medium and therice straw segments of Indica rice are prepared (The rice straws aresun-dried and cut into small segments at the length of 2-3 cm.). The LBYliquid medium is aliquoted into sterile 1000 concaved-bottom flasks, 500ml per flask. The PMBPIII strain group is added into the LBY liquidmedia at the concentration of 1.5×10⁶ cfu/ml. Then, the rice strawsegments are added into the LBY liquid media containing PMBIII straingroup at the concentration of 5% (w/v). And then the mixed solution iscultured in shaking culture at 200 rpm under 50° C. for 4 days. Eachtreatment is set up in four repetitions. Next, two treatments arerespectively proceeded. First treatment (LBYIII-CaO treatment) is to addCaO into the fermentative culture solution at the concentration of 1%(w/v) and then boil the fermentative culture solution up to 140° C. for30 minutes for preparing a pulp solution. Second treatment (LBYIII) isto directly boil the fermentative culture solution up to 140° C. for 30minutes for preparing a pulp solution. In addition, the controls areprepared respectively that the rice straw segments are directly mixedwith 1% (w/v) sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH treatment) or 1% (w/v) CaOsolution (CaO treatment). Each treatment is set up in four repetitions.The pulp solutions of all treatments are further pulped for 15 minutes.The pulp solutions are sieved by sieves with 18, 200 and 270 meshesrespectively for isolating the incompletely decomposed rice straw pulpfibers from the pulp solutions. The recovery percentages of the ricestraw pulp fibers sieved through sieves with different meshes arecalculated. The recovered rice straw pulp fibers sieved through 200meshes are made into the handmade papers. The physical properties of thehandmade papers are tested.

[0063] Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows the effects of microorganismfermentation treatment and chemical treatment on the recoverypercentages of various rice straw pulp fibers. The total recoverypercentage of CaO treatment is the highest. The recovery percentage is77.79%. The effect of LBYIII treatment came second, in which therecovery percentage is 47.31%. The LBYIII-CaO treatment has a recoverypercentage of 43.07%. The recovery percentage of NaOH treatment is41.45%, the lowest. When comparing the recovery percentage between thepulp fibers obtained by biopulping method and chemical method, which arerecovered from the fibers sieved through 200 meshes, the results of NaOHtreatment and the CaO treatment are higher than the other treatments.The result of treatment by microorganism plus CaO (LBYIII-CaO treatment)came second and the result of microorganism treatment (LBYIII treatment)is the lowest. The recovery percentages of the pulp fiber recovered fromthe fibers sieved through 200 meshes and treated with NaOH, CaO,LBYIII-CaO and LBYIII are 41.21%, 41.0%, 27.53% and 11.45% respectively.

[0064] Please refer to Table 4, which shows the physical properties ofhandmade papers produced from rice straw pulp fibers which are treatedby microorganisms and chemicals. The recovered rice straw pulp fibersieved through from 200 meshes is made into the handmade papers. Thephysical properties of the handmade papers are tested. The obtained pulpfibers treated by CaO has the best ionization degree (325 ml), while theobtained pulp fibers treated with LBYIII-CaO has the ionization degreeof 267 ml. The handmade paper of LBYIII treatment has the highest gasespermeability (302.3 sec/100 ml). The CaO treatment is the lowest (110.3sec/100 ml). The handmade papers of both NaOH treatment and LBYIII-CaOtreatment have the best surface strengths of all treatments (10A and 9Arespectively). The handmade paper of the NaOH treatment has the bestgeneral strength of all (21.8). The second is the LBYIII-CaO treatment(15.13). The lowest is the LBYIII treatment. TABLE 4 Treatment NaOHLBYIII CaO LBYIII-CaO Test item C.S.F.:252 ml C.S.F.:257 ml C.S.F.:325ml C.S.F.:267 ml Basic weight 72.8 72.9 73.3 73.4 (g/m²) Thickness 0.1360.153 0.144 0.147 (mm) Bulk 1.87 2.10 1.96 2.00 (ml/g) Breaking length7.21 2.87 3.36 4.89 (Km) Tear Index 5.99 1.28 2.61 4.21 (mN · m²/g)Burst Index 4.34 0.89 1.58 2.47 (Kpa · m²/g) Cohesion Force 2.13 0.931.26 1.78 (kg-cm) Permeability to Gases 157.7 302.3 110.3 157.3 (sec/100ml) Surface Strength 10 4 7 9 (A) Stiffness 2.20 1.57 1.38 1.55 (g-cm)Opacity 94.8 99.5 99.5 99.3 (%) Whiteness 43.5 22.7 20.4 24.9 (%) AshContent 4.59 13.60 20.80 16.50 (%) *General Strength 21.80 6.90 10.0715.13

[0065] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is the flow chart of biopulpingmethod illustrating the full process of the biopulping method for wasterice straws according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. First, the rice straw is cut into segments at the length of2-3 cm. The segments are added into the LBY medium containing 10⁶(cfu/ml) PMBPIII strain group. The mixed solution is cultured in theshaking culture under 50° C. and 200 rpm for four days. The culturesolutions are boiled up to 140° C. for 30 minutes to prepare pulpsolutions. The pulp solutions are further pulped and sieved throughsieves for preparing rice straw pulp fibers. And then the papermakingprocedure is proceeded.

[0066] While the invention has been described in terms of what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments,it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to thedisclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A production method for a paper pulp, comprisingsteps of: (a) providing a culture solution; (b) adding a fiber plantinto said culture solution; (c) adding a suspension of a microorganisminto said culture solution; (d) fermentatively culturing said culturesolution for preparing a pulp solution; (e) boiling said pulp solution;(f) pulping said pulp solution; and (g) screening said pulp solution forisolating a paper pulp from said pulp solution.
 2. The method as claimedin claim 1, wherein said fiber plant is a non-woody fiber plant.
 3. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fiber plant is pretreated byone selected from a group consisting of a relatively high pressuretreatment under a relatively high temperature, a steaming treatmentunder a relatively high temperature, a boiling treatment under arelatively high temperature, a fumigaed treatment and a soakingtreatment under a room temperature.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein said fiber plant is added into said culture solution by a ratioof 4˜15%.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidmicroorganism is isolated from one of a non-woody fiber plant and alivestock excrement compost.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein said microorganism is inoculated at a concentration ranged from0 to 10⁸ cfu/ml.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidmicroorganism is a Gram positive bacterium.
 8. The method as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said microorganism is one selected from a groupconsisting of a Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5), a Bacillus subtilis(PMBP-m6) and a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (PMBP-m7).
 9. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said fermentatively culturing process isproceeded at a temperature ranged from 20 to 50° C.
 10. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said fermentatively culturing process is oneof a static culture and a shaking culture.
 11. The method as claim inclaim 1, wherein said fermentatively culturing process is proceeded over0˜10 days.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step (e)further comprises a step of adding 0˜4% (w/v) CaO into said pulpsolution and boiling said pulp solution for 25˜40 minutes under 120˜150°C.
 13. The method as claim in claim 1, wherein said pulp solution isscreened by 18˜300 meshes.
 14. A biopulping method for a non-woody fiberplant, comprising steps of: (a) providing a culture solution; (b) addinga non-woody fiber plant into said culture solution; (c) adding asuspension of a microorganism into said culture solution; (d)fermentatively culturing said culture solution for preparing a pulpsolution; (e) boiling said pulp solution; (f) pulping said pulpsolution; and (g) screening said pulp solution for isolating a paperpulp from said pulp solution.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 14,wherein said fiber plant is pretreated by one selected from a groupconsisting of a relatively high pressure treatment under a relativelyhigh temperature, a steaming treatment under a relatively hightemperature, a boiling treatment under a relatively high temperature, afumigated treatment and a soaking treatment under a room temperature.16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said inoculationconcentration of a microorganism is at a range from 0 to 10⁸ cfu/ml. 17.The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said microorganism is oneselected from a group consisting of a Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5),a Bacillus subtilis (PMBP-m6) and a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens(PMBP-m7).
 18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step (e)further comprises a step of adding 0˜4% (w/v) CaO into said pulpsolution and boiling said pulp solution for 25˜40 minutes under 120˜150°C.
 19. The method as claim in claim 14, wherein said pulp solution isscreened by 18˜300 meshes.
 20. A biopulp of a non-woody fiber plant,comprising the components of: a non-woody fiber plant; and a suspensionof a microorganism, wherein said non-woody fiber plant and saidsuspension of said microorganism suspension are mixed and fermentativelycultured for preparing said biopulp.
 21. The biopulp as claimed in claim20, wherein said microorganism is a Gram positive bacterium.
 22. Thebiopulp as claimed in claim 20, wherein said microorganism is oneselected from a group consisting of a Bacillus licheniformis (PMBP-m5),a Bacillus subtilis (PMBP-m6) and a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens(PMBP-m7).